The Chiaroscuro: Chapter 15
Lorelei's POV Dark Circle Base, Appalachian Mountains, USA I woke up on a bed. The sheets, along with most of the room (which was pretty much the bed, door and wall beside me that I could see through the thick shadows), were black and the walls were a dark sinister shade of crimson as if someone had poured fresh blood on the walls. A few pictures of skulls were plastered onto the door and a creepy rug lay on the marble floor. On a side table, a small stereo played a rock song that nobody but me could recognize.'' "Invisible Man" by Theory of A Dead Man''. D'uh? I looked down what I was wearing and someone had changed me clothes. I was in a black t-shirt, black jeans and leather combat boots. My hair was untied and soft as if someone had washed it. Pedos, I thought. There was a shift in the corner. I shot from the bed and someone stood up from a stool and I screamed, sending an arc of electricity at their chest. I reached for my sword, but in its place was a Stygian Iron dagger with a skull topper at the top of the hilt. I unsheathed it and held it in front of me. The figure shakily stood. "Jesus Lora..." I knew that voice. An obsidian coloured wing moved from the shadows, then another. Then I finally saw Garrett's face. He had a strange tattoo on his neck: a white skull with two black wings behind it like half-crossbones. There was a fresh burn mark on his scarlet-coloured shirt from the shot. I was lost for words. All I could manage was: "I am so sorry!" I lunged for him. He wrapped me in his arms and held me close. I pulled away, realizing Alex wasn't here. Alex? Why the hell am I thinking of Alex, ''now? "Where's Alex?" He shifted uncomfortably. "He's being held in another room. But we should talk." "No." I knew he wasn't getting the same spa treatment ''I was. I walked to the door but Garrett moved in front of me. I tried to side-step him, but he grabbed my wrist. "Garrett, are ye daft? Let me go!" "I can't. Not again." He was starting to scare me. Stay cool Lora! I have an idea, Josh said in my head. Oh right. I forgot there was a troll in my head, I said back. Shut up. Do you want to see your boyfriend?, Josh snipped at me. I decided not to answer that one. Suddenly, a flash of light exploded in Garrett's face and he fell back. I shot out the door and ran down a grand hall. Looking back at the door, it actually was pink. I ran to a big steel door and looked inside a crack in the doorway. It was like an observation room. A large platform catwalk stood around the perimeter of the room. Below, I saw Caleb and Damion in the pit, laughing at someone who was strapped to a metal table. I looked a bit closer and my heart almost jumped out of me mouth. Alex was strapped to the table, his shirt torn off his chest. He tried helplessly to pick the locks, but Caleb would swat his wrist with a whip. "Two traitors..." Caleb shook his head. "We finally got rid of Hiro, at least. Unless of course, he saved himself again. Oh shut up Alex!" Caleb got the whip and slashed it across his stomach. Alex let out a cry of pain and I almost broke into tears. My sadness morphed into anger. A small thunder cloud formed in the ceiling. Alex looked up and almost smiled. The other two looked befuddled. I walked through, rain beating down on all of them. Caleb and Damion both jumped to the metal stairs but lightning shot at them both, knocking them both out cold. I jumped over their miserable bodies and ran to Alex. His lower lip had a small cut and he looked bruised in a few places. I unstrapped him from the cold steel table. He didn't say anything. I pulled him off the table and flew up the stairs. e ran down the hall, passing a small doorway that led into a dark room. Alex kept running. "Alex," I whispered, "Wait a sec..." I wandered down the hall. I came up to a small chamber room with a grand oak table and huge book cases lined the walls. A giant black stone block stood at the head of the room, with names carved into it. I crept into the room, slowly. "Lora!" Alex whispered. He caught my shoulder. "C'mon! We have Hiro to save! But first, let's get Garrett and go!" Garrett. I spun around and raced out the door. I ran back to the pink door and I was about to open the door when I heard two people talking inside. I listened closer as Alex pressed his ear to the door. "She just... ran away." Spoke a hurt voice. I could tell it was Garrett from his deep baritone. "Oh, Wings...." Another voice, which I could tell, was definitely female, "She's just a girl. You'll get over her. Now, c'mere. You owe me a kiss." And then there was silence. I fought the urge to bust in there, smack the chick (I almost used another word there) across the face and kick Garrett's butt. (Again, I almost used another appendage there) Then something toppled over in the room. I looked inside a bit more and saw Garrett's foot right in front of me. I backed away and so did Alex. The door was pushed open even more and I stood. I pulled Alex up and hid around the corner. I pressed Alex up against the wall and an awkward grin grew on his face. Suddenly, two shadowy figures walked by. One of them had dark black wings, (Garrett) and the other had a slim figure. I pulled Alex back towards the dark room and hid behind the table. I made a tiny storm cloud and made rain pour over his wounds. After a minute or two, and some soaking-wet drapes to clean up the mess, we decided to look around. There were tons of books on the gods like Nyx, Erebus, Thanatos and other dark gods. Spell books for Hecate children were laid out on a long display case, shielded by thick glass. Alex stared at some blue-prints for mercenary vehicles and battle plans. He examined them like they were some rare artifact that would save the human race. Well, demigod race, that is. We poked around for a good twenty minutes until we were "interrupted" by whispering voices. Alex and I flew up on top of one of the catwalks and hid behind a display case of demigod skulls. Ew. We watched as dark figures walked into the room and sat down at the table. I recognized Chelan and Sean. Arial and Drake glanced provocatively at each-other and sat down on opposite ends of the wooden table. Then, Layla and Caleb rose from the table. "We have disgraced our parents!" Caleb threw a glass of water across the room, narrowly missing Drake's shoulder. "We, the Dark Circle are the only hopes for our parents to rise up! We must crush the Center of Light under our feet. We almost had Zeus' own daughter! With her, we could have beaten not only Joshua and his stupid group, but we could have made the King of the sky, yield to us! But we let her get away!" Layla unrolled a map of somewhere that looked oddly familiar. I was about to point it out when Alex pulled at my collar. "Their plans! We can thwart them if we can get back to base." Maybe you don't have to get back to base to tell us. I can see if I can broadcast this to everyone, Josh spoke in our minds. Down below, Layla was rambling off ideas for assaults and Alex was soaking them up like a Sham-Wow rag. In other words: not at all. I moved in to listen to what was happening. Layla set down another map. But I realized they were blue-prints. I looked closer and saw the outlines for... Alex's eyes widened. "Is that a---?" "Robotic Suit." I spoke in a daze. Layla strutted around the table, letting everyone inspect the drawings. "A mecha-suit. We will build it, use it and kill every last one of the Center of Light. We'll need parts. And soon." "But Layla," Arial lifted her eyes to Layla who was on the other side of the room, right in front of us. "This thing needs a pilot. And allot of electricity. Where will we find all the power for this thing?" Layla pulled a book from a case. She flipped through the pages and put the book back. Weird. "I have an idea. In fact, it's right here in this room." She turned and held a revolver in her hands. Then... she gazed right at me and held the gun straight at me. "Right Lora?" then the last thing I heard was a sinister gunshot. The Chiaroscuro Homepage [[The Chiaroscuro: Chapter 16|'Chapter 16']] Category:Chiaroscuro Category:TheWiseOne